* Liquidity surplus to tighten further this week.

Expectedly, the liquidity surplus tightened last week led by heavy auction related outflows along with the last leg of custom and excise duty. The banking system average liquidity surplus tightened to ~Rs 3 tn for the week ending July 15 compared to Rs 3.65 tn for the week ending Jul 7. The overnight f

WPI inflation: overall dynamics benign.

Some upside pressure was visible in food articles, but WPI inflation surprised on the downside as core inflation dynamics remained benign. Sharp input price pressures are unlikely to manifest given benign global commodity price cycle in the near-to-medium term. This should bode well for retail prices too, especi

India not really an outlier in terms of tax-to-GDP ratio

Contrary to popular perception, GST could boost overall tax revenues for India

* At first glance, India’s tax-to-GDP ratio appears lower than other economies; however, after adjusting for the level of economic development – measured by per capita income, In

NDR feedback: A strong proxy play on PepsiCo India

* We hosted investor meetings in Mumbai and Singapore with Varun Beverages Ltd’s (VBL) management. We maintain BUY on the stock with catalysts being launch of new products by PepsiCo India and improvement in VBL's return profile.

* Investors appreciated the fact that VBL's partn

NEW DELHI/LAUSANNE, Switzerland - A group of cigarette company executives stood in the lobby of a drab convention center near New Delhi last November. They were waiting for credentials to enter the World Health Organization's global tobacco treaty conference, one designed to curb smoking and combat the influence of the cigarette industry.

Treaty officials didn'

ICICI Securities to offer Factor Based Portfolios, a risk-based portfolio advisory service to Indian investors

Mumbai: ICICI Securities Ltd, a subsidiary of ICICI Bank and India’s leading integrated financial services firm today announced today Factor Based Portfolios, a risk-based portfolio advisory service on its investment pla

Macroeconomic data set the stage for a rate cut

* But a few reasons exist for RBI to remain cautious n Like in the past few months, CPI inflation eased more than expected to 1.5% YoY in June 2017, lower than market consensus of 1.7% and our expectation of 1.6%. Although food prices (food price index down more than 2%) were the key driver of lower infla

Shift likely to remain gradual

Pace can intensify with stringent cash transaction norms

* India is on a structural path towards a formal economy, (please refer to our inaugural issue of “The Big Leap” series) prodded by a string of government initiatives such as demonetization, GST, and Aadhar-linking. While thes

Commodities to lead the revenue growth

We expect sectors, Capital Goods, Cement, Commodities (Metals / Oil & Gas), Agro Products, O & G and Paints are expected to predominantly propel this growth. On the other hand, IT, Media and Auto are expected to be a drag on the overall growth rates on a YoY basis. In terms of profits, Metals is projected

12th July 2017, New Delhi

Max Speciality Films Limited (MSFL) today announced the appointment of Ramneek Jain as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MSFL with effect from 11th July 2017. Ramneek is a seasoned business leader with over 23 years of rich experience across manufacturing organisations in India and the US.

Mr. Jain joins MSF afte

Q1FY18 Results Preview, expect a better Q1 in revenue, PAT under pressure

PL universe ex‐ financials is expected to have a better Q1FY18 with 8.2% increase in revenue and 5.5% fall in net profit on a YoY basis. While the sales growth may look promising, the fall in PAT is expected to come in from Automobiles 9.2%, Cement 4.4%, Oil & Gas 23.7% an

Renewed deceleration due to temporary headwinds

* Renewed decline in earnings performance of Indian companies in Q1FY18E is likely to break the positive trend observed over the past few quarters. This outcome in expected against the backdrop of better global trade data, implying that domestic factors are responsible for the expected deceleration in Q1F

Still in the works

Earnings breadth yet to improve; GST to impact B2C sector earnings

Earnings decline after three quarters of growth; quality, breadth still weak

As we commence the first quarterly earnings season of FY18, the macro and broader market context appears sanguine with

The goods and services tax (GST) became a reality from July 1st 2017. The new indirect tax regime unifies the country by making India a homogenous market. By removing the state barriers, trade becomes easier. While GST, in the current form may not be the perfect, but it is better than the earlier tax regime and was due for long. We revisit how GST is likely to benefit the economy.

&nb

Divergence and convergence.

We note the growing divergence between key global and domestic macro variables—(1) rising global bond yields and low global inflation, (2) high domestic nominal and real interest rates and low domestic inflation and (3) rich valuations and muted earnings outlook for the Indian market. We expect ‘convergence&rsqu

*  Nifty50 in consolidation phase – lags EM performance…:

After rising 17% YTD, Nifty50 has been in a consolidation phase in June 2017 and traded in a narrow range of ~2% resulting in the index underperforming EMs.

*  …despite positive FPI and MF flows while primary capital-raising